Push on by Democratic majority to re-make decades of labor law

With the change to a Democratic majority in the House and Senate last year, unions are finding a more receptive audience for proposed changes in labor laws. Earlier this year, Congress passed HR 800, the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007, which would have made sweeping changes to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The bill, which failed in the Senate, would have made it easier for unions to represent a workforce by: (1) requiring the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify a union if a majority of workers signed union cards, eliminating the need for secret ballot elections; (2) requiring companies and newly certified unions that are unable to reach agreement on an initial contract within 90 days to enter into binding arbitration, with the resulting contract remaining in force for two years; and (3) increasing penalties imposed on employers, but not unions, for unfair labor practices committed during a union organizing campaign.

Also afoot is a movement to overturn the Oakwood/Kentucky River trilogy of cases decided by the NLRB last year, addresssing which employees qualify as supervisors under the NLRA.  The unions assert that the NLRB decisions will lead to a massive reclassification of workers as supervisors, who are ineligible for union representation.  The Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act, introduced by Senators Dodd (D-CT), Kennedy (D-MA), and Durbin (D-IL) earlier this year, would amend the definition of “supervisor” under the section 11(2) of the NLRA to limit the number of employees who can be so classified.  The House Education and Labor Committee approved the House version of the bill (HR 1644) on September 19.

Regardless of whether the RESPECT Act succeeds, the introduction of pro-union legislation is likely an indication of things to come in 2008. Stay tuned......